A chimp's wrenching life in 'Project Nim'

Herbert Terrace, a Columbia University professor who in 1973 launched an experiment to teach a chimpanzee sign language, only seems like the villain of the documentary "Project Nim." Nearly everyone interviewed regards Terrace as insensitive to the feelings of his nonhuman charge, but in this heart-wrenching film there is plenty of blame to go around.

Terrace's experiment aimed to refute Noam Chomsky's theory that only humans were capable of true language, but "Project Nim" is more interested in emotions than linguistics. Nim Chimpsky (oddly, his punny name is never fully uttered or explained) was raised nearly from birth by Terrace's former student Stephanie LaFarge. Nim becomes a fourth child; she even breast-feeds him.

When Terrace decides LaFarge's hippie household is no place for rigorous science, he takes custody of the animal himself. LaFarge, who weeps at the memory, becomes the first to abandon the animal. Terrace's assistant/girlfriend, Laura-Ann Petitto, also leaves. Another teacher bails after Nim bites a hole in her face. And when Terrace drops the project, concluding that the signing chimp is merely "a brilliant beggar," Nim lands in one grim research center after another.

"Project Nim" finds its hero in Bob Ingersoll, a big-hearted stoner who worked at one of the facilities and who spent years trying to find Nim a proper home. He and Nim get along so famously you half expect them to form a band. Ingersoll spends years trying to find Nim a proper home; their friendship provides some of the film's most moving moments.

Terrace has objected to his portrayal, but director James Marsh (the Oscar-winning "Man on Wire") admirably avoids pointing any fingers directly. Many who shed tears ultimately served Nim little better than the dry-eyed Terrace. "We did a huge disservice to that soul," says one former teacher, "and shame on us."